A few hours had passed since the Fairy Tail mages had returned to Magnolia. After receiving the city's praise for winning the games, the mages decided to relax in their beloved guild, although after what had happened earlier, there was a lot of tension.

The girls were all seated together at a table gossiping over what had happened and expressing their worry.

"I swear I cannot believe it! I never imagined that Juvia would have an ex! She never told me! Did you guys know?" Cana asked.

"No, I had no idea," Erza responded.

"Me neither," Mira said.

Lisanna also denied having known anything and all the girls did the same.

"Well, it is fitting too, somehow," Evergreen said.

"How?"

"That jerk didn't exactly seem like the good kind and then Gajeel wanted to kill him, so…"

"He must have done something really bad," Mirajane said.

"Yes, without a doubt, who knows what he did?"

"I've never seen Juvia so cold," Levy said.

"Yeah, she was impassible, cold, and distant, it wasn't her, that wasn't our Juvia."

"We have to admit that she was already low due to Gray's rejection during the banquet," Lisanna said.

"No doubt that had a lot to do with it, in fact she was very silent," Mira said.

"Don't remind me! Gray caused such a disaster, I'll have to punish him!" Erza said.

The armored mage couldn't understand why her best friend was so stubborn and wanted to deny the truth at all costs.

Why had he rejected Juvia that way? When it was so clear that he also felt something for her! Couldn't he be honest? Couldn't he tell her that he wasn't yet ready for a serious relationship?

"In fact, Gray isn't here, I don't know what happened to him, he's been gone for some time," Mira said.

"Yeah, he was mad," Cana said. "He almost froze the whole street!"

"He is such a Tsundere! He won't admit his feelings for her, but then he gets mad as soon as he sees her with someone else," Evergreen said.

Lisanna was thinking about telling her that she and Elfman were doing the same but decided against it.

"Either way, I'm very worried about Juvia," Mira said.

"Me too," Erza said.

"We all are," Lisanna said.

"Hi girls," Lucy said.

"Lucy! Come here, sit, we need to talk," Cana said.

"You have to explain a few things to us," Evergreen said.

"What things?" even though she could imagine what it would be about.

"How do you know Juvia's ex-boyfriend? What happened between the two of you?"

"It's not what you think, I swear!"

"Then spill."

"It all happened in Hargeon, I was trying to join Fairy Tail, when I heard Bora proclaim himself to be Salamander from Fairy Tail."

"So he assumed Natsu's identity," Erza said.

"Yes, so I approached him and I don't know how but I was fascinated by him and when I told him my intentions he told me that he'd gladly accompany me to the guild, but he really took me to his house on his yacht."

"What a scoundrel!"

"But that's not all! Once on his yacht, he told me his true intentions and who he really was, that's to say, a fire mage, ex-Titan Nose member and now he was dedicated to being a slave trader."

"That's horrible!" Lisanna said

"Yes, he wanted to sell me as a slave in Bosco, then he threw my keys into the sea so that I couldn't use my magic and just as he was about to brand me, Natsu and Happily fortunately showed up to save me."

"Thank god Natsu arrived in time," Levy said.

"Yes, it was such a horrible experience! I'm still scared."

Mira hugged her to console her.

"And have you ever talked to Juvia about this?" Lisanna asked.

"No, I had no idea that he was her ex-boyfriend."

"Do you think they were still together then?" Cana asked.

"Oh my God, please, don't let it be that way, she hates me enough already."

"I don't know, but the situation seems serious," Mira said.

"Is she here?" Lucy asked.

"No, Juvia's not here, soon after we returned and you and Natsu left to leave your stuff, she took off alone."

"Do you think she went to talk with him?" Evergreen asked.

"I don't know."

"Do you think she'd agree to get back with him?"

"Of course no!" Erza said, "Juvia is sincerely in love with Gray, she won't go back to her ex."

"But it looks like he was the one who dumped her, it's possible that she still loves him," Kinana intervened.

"No, absolutely no, it won't happen."

"Also because if it does, who would calm Gray down? He already goes crazy whenever Lyon tries it!" Cana said, laughing.

"What's clear is that something has remained."

"Gajeel seemed very angry to me, I wonder what that Bora guy did to Juvia," Levy said.

"The same thing he tried to do to Lucy?" Kinana suggested.

"I don't think so," Mira said, "Remember that Juvia was in Phantom, she was in the Element Four, the elite team, she was S class, and that Gajeel was there."

"It would have been suicide to try that, and let's not forget that Juvia is much stronger than we think, just because she doesn't always show her true strength doesn't mean that she can't defend herself or that she's not strong."

"Furthermore that guy's a fire mage, no?" Evergreen said. "Juvia is a water mage, and water puts out fire."

"Either way I'm way too curious to find out."

"But I don't think it's a good idea to ask her, since she seems very resentful of him."

"Let's ask Gajeel, surely he'd know," Cana said.

"Do you think that's a good idea? Do you really think he's gonna tell you?" Lucy asked.

"If we don't ask we'll never know."

"Well, Levy, you'll be the one to ask Gajeel," Erza said.

"Why me?" the solid script mage responded, blushing.

"Because he'll most likely respond to you."

But before the girls could approach him, surprisingly, it was the Dragon Slayer who did so.

"G-Gajeel, what are you doing here?"

"I'm a Dragon Slayer, shrimp, I heard."

"Were you spying on us?" Erza said.

"No, it's not my fault I've got a good ear, but even so, it wouldn't be much different from what you're all doing."

"Fine, Gajeel, sit down and tell us, please, we want to know," Mira said.

The Dragon Slayer seemed to be thinking it over for a while, then he sighed and spoke.

"Fine! But I'm only telling you guys because I don't want anyone asking her, she doesn't like to remember certain things."

"We're all ears."

"She met him on a solo mission, apparently that guy was close by, he was still a member of Titan Nose at the time."

"How far back are we talking?"

"Three and a half years ago, if we count the seven years on Tenrou, it'd be about ten years."

"It's incredible, how time passed…" Lisanna said.

"At the time, we were training together, but we didn't have the same relationship we have now, she would just remark about that guy."

"And then?"

"They still weren't dating yet, he was just wooing her, sometimes he'd show up in Phantom by surprise and he'd tell her a thousand things," the boy frowned at remembering that…

"Then?"

"After a few weeks they officially became a couple."

"What did you think about it?" Levy asked.

"I told her to do whatever she wanted, it was none of my business."

"You said that you guys didn't still have the relationship that you have now, so you couldn't exactly tell her who or who not to date," Mira said, realizing that he felt guilty.

"Yeah."

"Then?"

"But I told her that I didn't like that guy, he was always arrogant, sure of himself, full of ambition, seeking power, I never liked him."

"Keep going."

"There's not much to add, he dumped her two months later, because he was tired of the rain."

"How cruel!" Lisanna said.

"He dumped her? Just because of the rain?" Cana asked.

"That day, I'll never forget it, we had agreed to train around six in the afternoon, they had a date at three at some park."

"And?

"She's always been punctual, a lot of times I was the one who arrived late, but after an hour of waiting, I decided to go find her because also in Phantom things were different, you didn't have a lot of free time, you had to always be available, so I went to find her, and luckily she told me where the date was."

"And then what happened?"

"As I got closer to the park, I began to notice that the rain was increasing, so much so that I could hardly see anything, the first thing I saw was a pink umbrella, on the ground, near a bench."

"And where was she?"

"I'm getting there! Don't interrupt!"

"Sorry."

"She was on the bench, with her head down, soaked to the bone, I was gonna yell what the hell was she doing there and why wasn't she in the guild, but…"

"But?"

"I realized that she was crying, I was shocked, it was the first time that I had seen her cry, she was always indifferent, dark, and cold, but never fragile and crying."

"Very different from Juvia nowadays," Erza reasoned.

"Yeah."

"And?"

"I was left speechless and immobile in the rain until she hugged me," he said embarrassed.

The girls smiled.

"Then?"

"Our past is very different from your guys', we never lived through certain things, we had never received a hug or a caring gesture, that was the first time, our first hug."

Mira and Lisanna were crying, while Levy was about to cry tears of happiness and Cana and Erza had sweet smiles.

"I'm sorry, continue," Mira said.

"I asked her why she was crying and what the hell had happened, she told me that Bora had dumped her, telling her that he couldn't stand the rain anymore, that they could never go out without an umbrella or have a picnic or do normal things."

"He was cruel," Cana said, who knew something about Juvia's problem with the rain.

"Yeah, that bastard knew it, he knew that she was the first person who was annoyed by it and he knew that she couldn't control it, but he still blamed her for everything."

"What a dreadful being!" Evergreen said.

"Didn't he know about this problem? That is to say, how long did it last between them?" Mirajane asked.

"Two, three months."

"And what? What did he do in those months? Did he not notice the rain?"

"He just got fed up and used the rain as an excuse, it's not that it wasn't a nuisance, but…"

"Yeah, but he knew and Juvia couldn't do anything about it, it was really horrible and in bad taste to blame her and make her feel guilty," Levy said.

"It's not like she wasn't used to the complaints, her whole life she had heard how horrible the rain was, but it still hurt."

"Poor Juvia."

"But it doesn't end there."

"How strange! I was thinking about how Edo-Juvia had always liked the rain," Lisanna said, smiling.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's crazy! Juvia hated the rain, it always brought back bad memories."

"Either way, you were saying?"

"He had revealed his true intentions, it had been a bet with his stupid friends."

"A bet?" Evergreen said.

"Yeah."

"What an ugly jerk, good god!"

"How can you bet on a girl and a relationship?"

"We need Elfman right now to say that that's not manly."

"Yeah."

"So he told her that he had also been unfaithful."

"That too?"

"Practically an imbecile and a little man from head to toe," Cana said.

"And not just once or with just one girl, that useless jerk had a long list of lovers."

The girls were shocked and angry.

"How can someone do that?"

"I can see why she was so cold and distant with him, I would have destroyed him."

"Oi, bunny girl?"

"Gajeel, didn't you hear? It's not what you think I swear, I'm not part of that list."

"All the same, it's a very strange coincidence that you know him and have been on his yacht."

"Yeah, honestly Lucy."

"He kidnapped me!"

"Anything else, Gajeel?"

"He told her that no one would ever love the mournful and depressing rain woman, and that she had to resign herself to never having any type of love."

Erza and Mira were now about to activate their powerful magic, ready to go look for Bora and kill him.

"He's crueler than what I imagined," Lucy said with tears in her eyes.

"He hurt our friends, he has to pay!" Erza and Mira said.

"Juvia had always been convinced that there wasn't any love for her, she told me that she had accepted going out with Bora because he was the only one who had approached her and even though she didn't love him, she was happy, furthermore, with time she had learned to love him."

"She had a difficult childhood, huh?" Cana asked.

"She didn't tell me much, I don't even know much about her life before Phantom, I know that she was harassed in an orphanage and that it had always rained her whole life, she was always alone and always rejected."

I seriously need to talk with Gray, Erza though.

"I'm proud of her, despite everything that has happened she managed to change, open her heart, open herself up to true love," Mira said.

"Me too, without a doubt, it wasn't easy, especially given what had happened," Cana said.

"Yeah, Mira, I'm very proud of her too," Erza said.

"We all are," Levy said.

"Is there more, Gajeel?" Cana asked.

"She wiped her tears, we returned to Phantom, ate vanilla ice cream and the next day I went to beat that jerk up."

"You did well."

"Yeah, but, still," Evergreen said.

"Still?"

"Well, it's not that Gray is a bad guy, but he's not exactly the best person to fall in love with, he's acting like another heartbreak."

"Don't talk to me about the stripper."

"Do you think that what happened at the banquet affected Juvia's reaction?"

"She was already sad about that, so yeah, it influenced it a lot, but that doesn't matter now."

"Is there anything else, Gajeel?"

"Juvia is in love with Gray, truly, she wasn't in love with Bora."

"Meaning?"

"She was humiliated by Bora, Gray broke her heart, it's different."

"Where's Juvia now?"

"I think she's at the lake, at the river, or at the sea, she usually goes there to calm down, she told me she had a huge headache and that she wanted to be alone for a bit."

"Do you think she's thinking about getting back together with him?"

"Of course not! But she's surely thinking about all the stress that has accumulated in the past few days and in the past."

"Do you think it's ok to leave her alone?"

"I can assure you that when she shuts herself off it's better to leave her alone, it's like she's in another world, one that no one has the key to."

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Author's corner!

Hello everyone!

Here's a new chapter.

The girls are worried about Juvia and Gajeel tells them a bit about her past.

I hope you like it, we'll see each other next time!

Thank you to those who read and comment.

Thank you to BotanG for translating it.

Thank you everyone, even for just reading and until next time.

GruviaSilver.